The Wolf of Wall Street

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Cristin Milioti, P.J. Byrne, Kenneth Choi, Ethan Suplee, Jean Dujardin
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Comedy
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) rises to fame, wealth, and power on Wall Street- but his increasingly lavish lifestyle leads him to illegal activities that draw the attention of the FBI.

Review:

Tim: Martin Scorsese's tale of lavish American excess further cements his status as one of the greatest directors of all time. His ability to churn out solid films is remarkable. Now, he is responsible for some truly great movies throughout his storied career. The Wolf of Wall Street might not quite belong in the upper echelon of his films (I know many will disagree with me), but it's still an incredibly good movie. I really enjoyed it, but I would not put it on my list of the best films of 2013.

Let's start with the positives. Scorsese takes a movie comprised of almost entirely unlikeable characters and makes it watchable. That right there is a major achievement. I didn't like anyone in this film, and yet, I was still very interested in the story. In a less capable director's hands, this could have been a disaster. Scorsese manages to tell this entertaining story about Americans living this unbelievable lifestyle- making millions upon millions of dollars, and using that to furnish a lifestyle of immense wealth, drugs, women, and pretty much anything you can think of that has a price tag. In some ways, it is very sickening to watch these people, knowing that the bulk of their money came from either illegal activities or scamming hardworking Americans. I thought Scorsese hit the exact right tone with this story. It's not a judgmental film. He is not praising these criminals or how they lived. However, he's not completely condemning them, either. He sits back and lets the audience watch the freak show and make up our own minds. That is the work of a genius director.

The cast is truly remarkable. Leonardo DiCaprio has delivered so many great performances- this one is among his best. He completely embraces this shady character and infuses him with humanity, yet never apologizes for him. We're not meant to love Jordan Belfort- DiCaprio, however, wants us to understand him as a person. His performance is manic, energetic, and incredible. I was very glad he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He will win one of these days. Jonah Hill was also great, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Hill is someone I always underestimate. He delivers a great, great performance here and is responsible for some truly memorable moments.

Margot Robbie delivers a career-making performance. I had never heard of her before this movie, but her performance is exceptional. She is involved in some of the funniest scenes, and she somehow manages to hold her own against far more experienced actors. I think she will have a long, long career if this film is any measure of her talent. Matthew McConaughey is incredible, but alas, is in the film far too small a time. His scene in the restaurant is incredible, but then he disappears. Kyle Chandler is good as the FBI Agent, Rob Reiner is hilarious as Belfort's father. Jon Favreau's presence was welcome, but he has very little to do. I also enjoyed the small role of Cristin Milioti. The cast is just remarkable, but Scorsese tries to cram too much into the film, so not everyone gets their due.

That leads me to my biggest complaint about the film- it is absurdly long, at a ridiculous 180 minutes. I get that there is a lot of story to tell here, but Scorsese really needed to show some restraint. He managed to pull off a film about all unlikeable people that wasn't miserable, but we all have limits. The last 30 minutes or so, I was running on fumes. It was just too much, too many characters, too many F-bombs, too much excess. I wanted the film to be over. Scorsese let this film get too bloated. There were a number of scenes that weren't necessarily needed or could have been cut. Scorsese shows the excess with glee early on, but some of the craziness could have been cut- after a while, we get it. The ship in the storm scene felt too long. The movie has so many great sequences and I understand how difficult it must have been to cut anything, but the movie is way, way too long. That hurts the film, especially after 2.5 hours when we realize we don't really love anyone on screen.

While the movie as a whole isn't quite great, Scorsese delivers so many exceptional scenes. The scene where DiCaprio takes far too many Quaaludes is the funniest scene in the film. But there's the scene at the diner- "Sell me this pen.", the scene with McConaughey when he does his weird music thing, the water-throwing fight between DiCaprio and Robbie, the speech where DiCaprio refuses to leave, the boat interaction between DiCaprio and Chandler, and many more. There are all these great moments, but there are too many less effective scenes that could have been cut (did we really need to see the helicopter crash?).

Look, I really enjoyed The Wolf of Wall Street and I admire Scorsese's achievement. However, I do not believe it ranks up there among his very best films. I think it's a very good, solid movie, but again, not among the very best of 2013.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Boiler Room, Gangs of New York, The Aviator